For years, people have been told that alcohol dependence is a disease. That they’re wired differently. That they’ll always be in recovery, always one drink away from disaster.
Powerless. That’s nonsense.
Alcohol dependence isn’t a disease. It’s a symptom. A coping strategy. A way your nervous system has learned to self-soothe, to numb, to survive. And that is why so many people struggle to stop drinking, not because they lack willpower or because they’re doomed to a lifetime of cravings, but because no one is looking at what’s going on underneath.
The “alcoholism is a disease” lie
The disease model of alcoholism has been around for decades, pushed by well-meaning recovery programs and medical institutions alike. It tells people that alcohol hijacks the brain, that they’re born different, and that once they cross an invisible line, there’s no coming back.
This belief does more harm than good. It strips people of their agency. It tells them they’ll always be in recovery, always battling something inside them. It creates an identity around drinking, one they are then forced to struggle with for the rest of their life.
Take AA’s introduction ritual:
"My name’s [X], and I’m an alcoholic."
Sounds harmless? It’s not.
Reinforcing that identity, again and again, only cements the belief that drinking is part of who you are, that alcohol has power over you, and that you’ll always be fighting against it. How could you ever be anything else if you are constantly affirming that identity?
That’s not how real change happens.
No one tells a former smoker to stand up and say, “My name’s X, and I’m a nicotinoholic”
They stop smoking and move on.
Drinking isn’t the problem: It’s the solution that became a problem
No one starts drinking, thinking, “I’d love to make my life a mess.”
Drinking works. Until it doesn’t. It takes the edge off, quiets the mind, and soothes the emotions. It numbs the feelings that feel too much, too big, too overwhelming. And for people who’ve been running on stress, trauma, and unmet emotional needs for years, alcohol offers instant relief.
That’s why traditional methods of stopping drinking fail so many people. They focus on alcohol when the real question is why drinking was the answer in the first place.
A nervous system on high alert
Most people struggling with alcohol dependence don’t have a drinking problem they have a regulation problem. Their nervous system is wired for survival, swinging between hypervigilance and shutdown. Drinking became the switch that made everything feel manageable.
For some, childhood was unpredictable. Maybe love and affection were conditional. Maybe their emotions were dismissed. Maybe they learned early on that being good, being quiet, and being easy were the best ways to stay safe. Others grew up in homes where drinking was normal, where numbing out was just what people did.
Most of us have unmet needs stemming from childhood. In previous generations, trauma was normalised, expected, and people were taught to brush it off and move on.
All that repressed emotion has to go somewhere because emotion is just energy in motion, and it will be expressed through the body in one way or another. Disease or addictions are manifested forms of repressed emotions.
Whatever the story, the body remembers.
So when stress, grief, loneliness, or anxiety hit. The brain reaches for what it knows will bring relief.
And nothing offers instant relief quite like alcohol does.
Alcohol is a drug, not a disease
The truth is alcohol is a drug. Just like nicotine. Just like cocaine. Just like any other substance that alters brain chemistry and creates dependency. And like any drug, it creates habits.
And habits can be changed.
No one talks about “heroinism.” No one claims that a cocaine user has an incurable brain disease. We call it what it is: a habit that became a dependence.
Yet, with alcohol, people are told they’re doomed and that they’ll need meetings for the rest of their lives. That they’ll always be in recovery.
It’s not true.
Willpower won’t fix this
People are told they need more discipline and more self-control. They need to fight cravings, push through, and tough it out. But that’s like trying to run a marathon with a broken leg.
Stopping drinking isn’t about willpower. It’s about healing what made drinking feel necessary and building new neural pathways.
That’s the difference between stopping drinking for good and endlessly bouncing between stopping and starting. It’s why people can make it weeks, months, even years without drinking, but when stress levels spike, the old wiring kicks in, and suddenly, they’re back to square one.
You were never powerless
The idea that people are powerless over alcohol is one of the most damaging beliefs ever sold. People don’t drink because they’re weak or because they’re broken. They drink because it works.
When the root cause is addressed and resolved, when new neural pathways are built, the need to drink disappears. No cravings. No white-knuckling. No fighting against yourself.
It’s time for a new approach
The way alcohol dependence is treated needs to change. The labels, the endless struggle, the idea that you’ll always be in recovery, it’s outdated. The real work isn’t in resisting alcohol. It’s in removing the desire for it altogether by healing the real reason it felt essential in the first place.
If you’ve been trying to stop drinking and keep finding yourself back at square one, it’s not because you’re doing it wrong. It’s because the approach you’ve been given isn’t built to work.
This is the work I do. If you’re ready to stop drinking without willpower, without restriction, and without the constant fight, book a call.
